LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP FIT

Laxative and weight loss

2012-01-11T04:38:00.000-08:00

The word laxative comes from Latin word ‘laxare’, which means to loosen. Laxatives are used to relieve constipation and fall into one of four categories: bulk forming, stimulant, osmotic, and stool softeners.

The belief that laxatives will help weight loss, and prevent weight gain can lead to abuse. People who use laxatives for weight loss are under the assumption that of laxatives speed things along the intestinal track, some food will not be absorbed in the body.

Laxative do not prevent the absorption of calories, but rather they affect the emptying of the large intestine which occurs after the calories have already been absorbed by the small bowel.

Laxative abuse can have a serious side effects on health, many related to low potassium levels (hypokalemia) secondary to watery diarrhea.

Chronic use of laxatives can result in serous sequelae, including loss of the normal colonic peristalsis (laxative dependency) and cathartic colon (loss of normal colon function).

Although several types of laxatives may be used experimentally by patients, in the final analysis, most of these patient end up using laxatives that cause rapid evacuations of the colon.

Laxative and weight loss

Eat Low Fat Foods

2011-10-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

Eat low fat carbohydrate foods to calm down the nervous, anxious and jittery. Eat slowly and in just a few bites, a brain chemical called serotonin will begin to soothe the shattered nerves.

Fat is the large fat of most people’s diets. Average American consume about 40 percent of their calories from fat. Although some fat is necessary due good health, such as a high proportion of fat in the diets carries with it major problems.

Low fat diets were popular during the 1980s and 1990s encouraging people to eat foods low in fat or without fat altogether and instead eat foods high in carbohydrates.

Each gram of fat provides 9 calories and protein and carbohydrate provide only 4. In essence, the people can eat more food in a low diet because will consume fewer calories with each meal.

Most of the fat intake should come from unsaturated sources.

Fat is high in calories and so contributes to obesity, which in turn increases risk factor many disease.

A low fat diet is recommended because it is a diet likely to facilitate successful long term weight control, and it is the type of diet advocated for good overall health.

There are three key changes for people to follow low fat diet:
*Reduce fat consumption
*Increase consumption of foods such as bread, cereal rice and pasta
*Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables
Eat Low Fat Foods

Blood cholesterol

2011-09-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. Cholesterol is only one of several lipids, or fats, found in the blood.

Though elevated cholesterol is associated with heart disease, it is modifiable and by lowering blood cholesterol levels can significantly reduce risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol is a white, waxy substance that is found referred to as a fat or lipid. In moderate amounts cholesterol is essential for good health, it is incorporated in cell walls and membranes.

It is found in some of the foods eaten; it is also manufactured by all the cells of our body, but most notably by the liver cells.

Cholesterol is essential’s process of making steroid and sex hormones such as testosterone and estrogen and it is necessary for vitamin D synthesis.

When blood cholesterol exceed 200 mg/dL, it become at risk factor for developing heart disease.
High cholesterol means that one has significant cholesterol buildup in his or her blood vessel. As blood tries to churn its way through the blood vessels, it gets caught on the cholesterol, causing a blood clot.

Epidemiologic studies have established that each 1% increase in LDL cholesterol leads to a 1-2% increase in coronary artery disease mortality rate.

Research has shown that even moderate exercise can substantially reduce the incident of coronary events.

Aerobic exercise reduces cardiac risk by lowering triglycerides and rising HDL cholesterol levels; by reducing blood pressure body fat, blood sugar and mental stress and by moderating the blood’s propensity to clot.

In 1994, American Heart Association added the first new major factor in 25 years – a physically inactive lifestyles to the list of risk for developing cardio artery disease.

Physical inactivity is defined as a major factor in part, because it also contributes significantly to a number of the other major risk factors such as high blood pressure, perhaps elevated blood cholesterol and often obesity.
Blood cholesterol

Obesity with heart disease

2011-07-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Obesity has been designated a disease recently by a consensus of prominent researchers in 2008. Obesity increases the risk of other diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

Coronary artery disease is a complex disease characterized by narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, usually caused by atherosclerosis.

Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease, including myocardial infarction and angina pectoris. Obesity is major but modifiable, risk factor. Overweight and obesity also increase the chance to develop high blood cholesterol, which is the major risk for heart disease.

The risk developing coronary artery disease associated with overweight and obesity increases substantially with exposure to other atherosclerotic risk factors.

Obesity is an independent primary risk factor as well as a secondary rick factor, for atherosclerosis cardiac and peripheral vascular disease. The secondary influence is mediated by obesity’s induction of hypertension and dyslipidemia.

In Finnish study showed that for every one kilogram increase in body weight, the risk of death from coronary artery disease increased by one percent. In patients who have already had a heart attack, obesity is associated with an increased likelihood of a second heart attack.

Increased visceral fat accumulation is a major risk factor for dyslipidemia. Obesity related dyslipidemia plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in individuals with excess visceral adiposity.

The difficulties in preventing and reversing obesity, along with the frequent nonadherence of adolescent to lifestyle changes and medical treatment, will complicate treatment and prevention efforts.
Obesity with heart disease

Hypertrophic Obesity

2011-06-12T10:06:00.001-07:00

Enlarged fat cells are the pathologic sine qua non of obesity. Fat cell weight in nonobese individuals is approximately 0.4-0.5 ug but with weight gain it may reach 1.0-1.2 ug.

Once cells reach this latter size, additional weight gain appears to result in an increase in fat cell number.

Fat continue to expand as they fill with more fat, when their capacity is reached, the body generates more cells.

Enlarged fat cells tend to correlate with an android or truncal fat distribution and are often associated with metabolic disorders such as glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, hypertension and coronary artery disease.

These derangements occur because large fat cells secret more of the many peptides and metabolites that they make.

Hypertrophic obesity develops later in life and is associated with diabetes and other aspects of metabolic imbalance.
Hypertrophic Obesity

How fiber help to reduce weight

2011-04-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

Fiber is the structural component of plants. It’s a very complex carbohydrate that cannot be digested.

It is now recognized that an addition of fiber to the diet, especially soluble and semi-soluble fibers offer many health benefits.

It is aid that to get the optimal benefit of fiber’s weight loss and disease fighting power, aim for at least 25 – 30 grams of fiber a day.

There was a study shows that an additional 14 grams per day of fiber resulted in a 10 percent decreased in calorie intake and a weight loss of nearly five founds over a four months period.

The bulk of fiber gives a physical sensation of fullness that helps to control how much is eaten at a given meal. Where as appetite is reduced directly by the bulk of fiber, it is reduced indirectly though the delayed emptying of the stomach.

Dietary fiber takes longer time to chew and eat, fills up, and satisfies the hunger, without excessive calorie consumption. High fiber diets may also reduce the amount of calories absorbed from the food that is eaten.

Foods with fiber tend to stay in the stomach a little longer, which is why oatmeal makes a hearty breakfast that staves off hunger for hours. Because don’t feel hungry as often, fiber is a great weight loss tool as well.

Grains have the most content of fiber. The best sources of fiber are concentrated grain products and whole grains.
How fiber help to reduce weight

The Appetite Control Center

2011-01-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Appetite Control Center
The appetite control center is housed in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. There are many hormones that affect it; here are the most important ones.

Ghrelin
Ghrelin stimulates appetite. It’s released when the stomach is empty, and its released stops when we eat. Carbohydrates and protein appear to suppress this appetite stimulating hormone more than fat does, which seems to be one of the reason that high fat diets promote weight gain.

Leptin
Leptin, insulin and amylin work together to reduce appetite. Both leptin and insulin dampen appetite by inhibiting neurons in the appetite control center that stimulate appetite and by stimulating neurons that depress appetite.
Leptin is released from fat tissue, and as the amount of body fat grows leptin levels also increase. It would be logical to assume this would work to the advantage of people who are obese, as leptin reduce appetite.
However research suggests that the appetite control center becomes resistant to leptin when levels are unusually high over time.
Consequently, leptin would be less efficient at suppressing hunger. Weight loss helps to reduce body fat and leptin secretion; it helps to restore leptin sensitivity.

Insulin
The story for insulin is strikingly similar. Insulin is released by the pancreas. As body fat increases, the risk of insulin resistance also increases ( a condition in which the body fails to use insulin properly).
The pancreas pumps out even more insulin, in effort to compensate. Not surprisingly, when the body becomes resistant to insulin, the appetite control center also becomes resistant to insulin.
With increasing weight gain, a vicious cycle is set in motion; appetite control is lost energy expenditure slows down, and eating increases.
As is the case with leptin, weight loss helps to decrease insulin secretion and restore insulin sensitivity.

Amylin
Amylin is secreted along with insulin from the pancreas. This hormone works together with insulin to slow emptying of the stomach. Amylin reduces hunger and helps to control body weight.

All in all, overweight and obesity seem to upset the delicate balance of appetite control hormones, Fortunately with a healthful lifestyle and weight loss, this balance can be restored.
The Appetite Control Center

Physical activity and Exercise

2010-08-30T02:17:00.001-07:00

Physical activity and Exercise
Many people do not realize the significant heath benefits that are obtained by including physical activity and exercise in their daily routines.

Actually many benefits of a regular exercise program. Most important, a physically active lifestyle reduces the risk of dying prematurely from many disease including heart disease.

Physically active people also are at reduced risk for developing diseases such as colon and breast cancer, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

At the same time, a lifestyle that includes physical activity and planned exercise can enhance mental function, promote healthy muscles and bones, help maintain overall body function, and preserve the independence of older adults.

While the terms physical activity and exercise are sometimes used interchangeably, there are differences between the two.

Physical activity is any form of muscular activity that produces contractions of skeletal muscle. Physical activity results in an expenditure of energy proportional of muscular work and is related to health benefits.

Exercise is a subset of physical activity that consists of planned, structure and repetitive bodily movement with a goal of improving or maintaining physical fitness. Exercise is defined in terms of frequency, intensity, duration and specific activity.
Physical activity and Exercise

Measurement of Skinfold Thickness

2010-07-21T04:09:00.001-07:00

Measurement of Skinfold Thickness
Measurement of the skinfold thickness at various sites on the body has been used for many years to indicate both inadequate and excessive adiposity in children.

A skinfold thickness measures the amount of subcutaneous fat but an equation developed from the combination of measurement at defined sites provides a reliable estimate of total adiposity.

In addition, skinfold measurements taken at just the triceps by trained operators were shown to correlate well with estimates of total adiposity from DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) in US children and measurements of abdominal skinfold also correlated highly with estimates of intra-abdominal adiposity obtained from CT or MRI scans.

The ration of subscapular to triceps skinfold thickness has also been shown to be a good predictor of a centralized fat distribution.

Skinfold thickness is a cheap and relatively simple measure to perform, although skinfold may be difficult to be measured in obese subject.

In addition, its reproducibility both for a single observer on the same subject and for different observers vary greatly. Skinfold also appears to vary with race.

The lack of growth charts for skinfold thickness or skinfold ratio limits its use for defining childhood obesity and as yet there are no clear associations between skinfold measures and risk of metabolic disease.
Measurement of Skinfold Thickness

Heart Fitness Test

2010-06-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

Heart Fitness Test
Most reputable clubs perform something called a submax test. That’s short for submaximal test, fitness jargon for a test that evaluates your heart rate when you’re working at less than your maximum effort.

Typically, this test takes you to about 75 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

A maximal test – in which you go all out - should only be performed by a physician or in the presence of physician.

Submaximal test are usually performed on a stationary bicycle, treadmill, or step bench. (if you’re runner, request a treadmill; if you’re a cyclist, ask to be tested on a bike. You’re best at what you practice most.)

The test usually lasts about 15 minutes. During this time, you increase your intensity every three or four minutes while the tester monitors your heart rate and blood pressure.

The test shouldn’t be very hard. On a bike, the worst it should feel like peddling up a moderately steep hill for a few minutes.

If you don’t belong to a health club you can test your aerobic fitness using a watch with a second hand and a course that’s exactly 1 mile long.

Warm up slow for five and ten minutes, and then time yourself as you walk to run the mile as briskly as you can.

Take your pulse right before you stop, and make a mental note of the number. Also note your time as you complete your mile.

One minute after you finish the mile, take your pulse again. See how far it has dropped from the pulse check you did right at the end of your walk. Try this test again in two months and se how much faster you can complete the mile and how much more quickly you recover.

If a mile sounds like too much for you right now, do a half mile or even walk around the block. Just choose a distance that you can measure again at a later date.

Schedule a second evaluation in six weeks. Those first weeks of training can bring about some dramatic changes, and really motivating to see how well you’ve done.

After that, changes tend to be steady but somewhat slower. Get tested again every three to six months.
Heart Fitness Test

Celery Juice

2010-05-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

Celery Juice
Sodium is one of the chemical elements needed so much in the walls of the stomach and in the intestinal tract. Celery is particularly food for these parts of the body.

However, many times celery can be very irritating to a sensitive stomach because it contains a great deal of fiber.

If irritation results, celery juice should be substituted.

It also best to avoid using raw celery if there is any stomach irritation.

Broths made of celery leaves, with other vegetables and milk or cream added, are good to take for stomach disturbance.

The milk or cream has a wonderful soothing effect on the stomach especially when there is excessive acidity.

A broth made with celery is good in an elimination diet.

Celery aids digestion, counteracts acidosis, halts fermentation, and purifies the bloodstream.

Celery juice can be handled and tolerated by most people, especially children.

However, many people prefer diluted celery juice and it is very good when combined with pineapple or apple juice.

Apple and celery juice combined is great for neutralizing the rheumatic acids in the body.

Combine, parsley, and asparagus juice for kidney disorder; celery and papaya juice for asthma; celery and grapefruit with a pinch of pure cream of tart for colds or sinus troubles; celery and parsley juice for fevers, gout or arthritis; and of the condition of the teeth is poor, combine beet greens, parsley, celery juice and green kale.
Celery Juice

Eat Plenty of Nutrient Dense and Fiber Rich Carbohydrate

2010-05-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

Eat Plenty of Nutrient Dense and Fiber Rich Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates include both sugars (simple carbohydrates) and starches (complex carbohydrates) such as potatoes, other vegetables, rice, pasta, and bread.

Fiber a non-digestible form of carbohydrate, is found in vegetables, fruits and whole grain. Fiber is filling and helps prevent overeating.

Carbohydrates is Source of Energy
The body turns a mixture of the carbohydrate, fat and proteins stored in the foods you eat to produce the energy it needs.

But the primary and preferred fuel is carbohydrate. Carbohydrate provides most of the energy to fuel the muscles and other bodily functions and in the form of the simple sugar glucose, is the only your brain can use.

Eating a lot of carbohydrate keeps your BMR chugging along at a maximum rate.

The Fate of Carbohydrate You Eat
Each day you consume about 50-60% of your total calories as carbohydrates. Most of it is burned within a few hours of consumption to fuel your physical activity and internal functions and is not stored or converted to fat.

A small amount of carbohydrate from each meal tops up the carbohydrate stores that have been partially used up between meals. The carbohydrate is stored as glycogen of long chains of the simple sugar glucose in the muscles and in the liver.

Glycogen in the liver provides a constant supply of glucose to the brain especially between meals, when glucose levels might other wise drop. Of glucose supply to the brain falls too low, you lose consciousness a major inconvenience.

You need to eat lots of carbohydrates to keep your BMR at a maximum levels, fuel your activity, keep up your energy level, and fuel your brain. But you don’t want to eat so much that carbohydrate alone satisfies your need.
Eat Plenty of Nutrient Dense and Fiber Rich Carbohydrate

Fat: Source of Energy

2010-04-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Fat: Source of Energy
Like carbohydrates and proteins, fats supply energy, or calories to power your physical activity and the many body processes that keep you alive.

Fats are concentrated energy source, supplying 9 calories per gram. To compare, carbohydrates and proteins provide just 4 calories per gram.

Although your body used fat for energy, it’s not the body preferred fuel source. And often fat isn’t used for energy.

If you consume more energy from fat than your body needs your body saves the extra in your body’s fatty tissues mostly in fat cells.

Body fat also is known as adipose tissue. When you need an extra energy supply, your body can draw in this stored fat.

Other body cells and blood plasma have some fat, too.
Fat: Source of Energy

What’s Your Blood Pressure?

2010-03-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

What’s Your Blood Pressure?
Have a professional test your blood pressure. Home blood pressure machines tend to be inaccurate as do those contraptions in the mall that charge a quarter for a reading.

Blood pressure is a measurement of how open your blood vessel are.

Low numbers mean that your heart doesn’t have to work very hard to pump the blood though your blood vessel.

Ideally your blood pressure should read 115/75 or below, a lower standard than the old standard of 120/80.

If it’s slightly higher don’t get stressed (that only increases it even more). However, if your blood pressure is higher 140/90, you are considered hypertensive, a fancy term for having high blood pressure.

In case you’re wondering the top number, called your systolic blood pressure, measures pressure as your heart ejects blood.

The bottom number, your diastolic blood pressure, measures pressure when your heart relaxes and prepares for its next pump.

If your get a high blood pressure reading, ask your tester to try again. The numbers can be affected by many factors, such as illness, caffeine, nervousness, or racing into your test because you were late. But if you repeatedly get high reading see a doctor.
What’s Your Blood Pressure?

Eat a Low Fat Diet

2010-02-25T17:50:00.001-08:00

Eat a Low Fat Diet
Fat is the villain. Fat makes you fat. Unlike carbohydrate and protein, fat is not burned off when you eat it.

Almost all (97%) of the fat you eat slides right into the fat stores that pad your body.

It is as if you took the hamburger you just ate and wadded it onto you belly except that it is happening from the inside.

The capacity for storing fat knows no bounds. The normal lean person stores about 140,000 calories of fat.

Contrast this to the body’s limited capacity to store carbohydrate (about 1200-1500 calories). and with fat storage, there is no upper limit.

A person who weights 300 pounds is storing about 2000 pounds of fat.

Whereas it is extremely difficult to overeat carbohydrates if you are eating nutrient-dense,, fiber rich food, there are no mechanisms to protect you from overeating fat.

You can overeat fat one day, and the next, and the next and the fat stores grow larger and larger.

In short, you are overweight because you have put too much fat in cold storage.
Eat a Low Fat Diet

Very Low Energy Diets

2010-02-07T18:12:00.001-08:00

Very Low Energy Diets (VLEDS)
Liquid diet formulae have been around do some time, but they are not universally recommended because of their variable nutritional value.

Most that are sold without supervision are likely to have a counterproductive effect in the long term which the patient putting back more weight than he or she loses.

Under strict supervision and with the right professional assistance, however the right type of formula diet can be useful, particularly where initial weight loss appears to be difficult or where a weight loss plateau seems to be arresting progress.

Low energy diets, LEDs (that is less than 1200 kcals a day) or very low energy diets, VLEDs (that is less than 800 kcals a day), obviously can’t be used indefinitely.

They also make socializing difficult and do little for food cravings that are psychological rather than physical.

However, they can be used in short bursts, provided the follow-up is managed extremely carefully by an experiment professional.

Careful re-feeding with gradually increasing amounts of food should follow the use of these products and an experienced professional, should be consulted to ensure this is successful.
Very Low Energy Diets (VLEDS)

Fat Burning Cardiovascular Exercises

2010-01-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Fat Burning Cardiovascular Exercises
by: Joe Kozma
What is the best form of cardiovascular exercise for my personal training clients? The answer to that question differs depending on the physical goals of the individual client.

A general answer to the question is that the ideal form of cardiovascular training is a form which has the most rewards while minimizing the risks.

The treadmill is probably the most popular form of cardio being done at gyms and fitness centers today. If one walks on the treadmill on a flat grade the risk to injury is minimal but in most cases the rewards are minimal.

Under these conditions few calories are burned and it is too high impact for the extremely deconditioned or obese. Walking slow on the flat treadmill with no grade has minimal risks for everyone but also few rewards as it does not burn enough calories to signifigantly reduce bodyfat.

There are two ways to increase the efficacy of working on a treadmill, one is by increasing the rate of speed of which the exercise is done at; you can start jogging or running at will. Jogging and running are very potent exercises when it comes to calorie burning but both of them put a great deal stress on the knees and lower back .

The unconditioned, injured and seniors should not take up running because it is too hard on the joint, bones and connective tissue.

Secondly, treadmill work can be increased in intensity by increasing the degree of grade that is walked at, this becomes the equivalent of walking hills or mountains outside. Incline treadmill walking is an effective calorie and fat burner but it can be problematic for trainees with lower back, knee or foot issues.

As you can see the treadmill has its positives and negatives. Using this an your main type of cardio will depend on any limiting factors due to injuries and how much endurance you have.

Stationary cycling is another very common form of cardio being done at gyms today. Stationary cycling has the same pros and cons as riding the bike outside. I believe cycling is most definitely superior to jogging and running because you can burn a lot of calories without the extreme pounding to the knees and back that the body receives from jogging and running. To a lesser degree however a lot of stress to the knees and back can be generated by intense cycling also.

I favor the elliptical machine due it's non-impact nature and large range of motion. you can vary the ramp, resistance and speed to target the largest lower body muscles without straining the spine or joints. It is possible to really turn up the intensity level of your training with minimal risk of injury. In short there is a superior form of cardio and that form is elliptical training.
Fat Burning Cardiovascular Exercises
About The Author
Fort Lauderdale Fitness Trainer Joe Kozma is a former national bodybuilding champion and college football player. Joe's fitness and weight loss service provides extreme body makeovers, strength gain, and more. See his clients at his Fort Lauderdale Fitness website at http://www.joekozma.com

A Nutrient for Health: Fat

2010-01-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

A Nutrient for Health: Fat
With all the attention on fat, you may surprise to learn that fats have fundamental health function and positive benefits.

Fat is s nutrient necessary for your health. In moderate amounts, fats perform a full work load of body functions.

You usually can’t live without them. That’s why a fat free diet isn’t healthful goal.

There‘s more to healthful eating than simply cutting back on fats.

In fact, the type of fat you eat may be just as important as the total amount of fat in your diet.

Evidence suggests that the various types of fats in foods have a different effect on health, some fats may even offer health protective benefits.

Fats work as partners in your body with other nutrients. Just as sugar dissolves in water, some vitamins dissolve in fat.

That’s how vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as carotenoids, are carried in food and into your bloodstream. Without fats these fat soluble vitamins cannot fully nourish your body.

Certain fats are considered essential, specifically two fatty acids - linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid – which your body can’t make. (Fatty acids are the building block of fat.)

For children to grow normally and for adults and children to maintain healthy skin, food choices must supply linolenic acid.
A Nutrient for Health: Fat

Body Mass Index for Age

2009-12-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Body Mass Index for Age
Body Mass Index is a ratio of the body weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters.

It has been shown to be a good indicator or adiposity in adults and there is a wide body of evidence which links increasing BMI to increased risk of morbidity and mortality in adults.

Although the relationship between BMI and adiposity is not as tight in children as it is in adults it still appears to be useful tool for identifying overweight and obese children.

The correlation between BMI an fat mass determined by DEXA was found to vary widely from 0.5 to 0.85.

However, the false positive rate was very low indicating that whilst it might identify some overweight children as normal weight there is a low likelihood that children would be misclassified as overweight.

As with adults, the relationship between BMI and adiposity in children and adolescents will vary in those at the extremes of height and muscularity.

Although BMI for age has been identified as a useful measure of adiposity in children and adolescent its value in defining overweight and obesity has been limited by the lack of standard reference values.

Only a small number of countries have defined reference growth charts which include BMI for age percentiles.

Cut off points are defined in much the same way as they are for relative weight for height for age.

Most countries have chosen to nominate the 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI foe age an gender to define overweight and obesity, although there is still some support for the use of BMI for age Z scores.

As BMI for age relies on references growth curves, this definition of overweight and obesity suffers for many of the same limitations as relative weight for height and age.

In additions, changes in the median and BMI distribution within the references curves will influence how children and adolescents are defined as obese regardless of their absolute level of fatness.
Body Mass Index for Age

Walking Exercise

2009-11-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Walking Exercise
As you walk grasp yourself in the small of the back and feel how your entire frame responds to every stride.

Notice how almost all of your muscle are functioning rhythmically.

No other exercise gives us the same body harmony of movement and improved circulation. Brisk walking is the best exercise for almost everyone.

Your walking should never be done consciously, No “heel and toe” business. No getting there in a certain time.

Let it be fun and natural. Walk naturally with head high, spine and chest lifted up. You will feel elated, so you will carry yourself proudly, straight, erect and with arm swinging.

Vow to become a health walker and make the daily walk a fixed item on your health program all the year around, in all kinds of weather.

If the outer world of nature fails to interest you, turn to the inner world of the mind. As you walk, your body ceases to matter and you become as near poet and philosopher as you will ever be.

By end of the days, the healthy functioning of your muscles and quickened blood circulating with a sense of balanced harmony and happiness.

Gardening is another rewarding form exercise. It may give enough exercise in the open to help keep you in good physical condition.

But gardening may not prevent weight gain if there is too little movement and because you are bent over more instead of being erect.
Walking Exercise

What is Heart Rate?

2009-10-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

What is Heart Rate?
Heart rate, also known as pulse, is the number of times heart beats per minute. The fitness evaluation should include a measure of resting heart rate – heart rate when we are sitting still.

Ideally, resting heart rate should be between 60 to 90 beats per minute.

It may be slow if the person fit or genetically predisposed to a low heart rate; it may be faster if the person fell nervous or have recently downed three double cappuccinos.

In addition to caffeine, stress and certain medications can speed up the heart rate.

To be sure, take heart rate first thing in the morning for three consecutive days and find the average to determine heart rates.

After a month or two of regular exercise, resting heart rate usually drops. This means that the heart rate has become more efficient.

It may need to beat only 80 times per minute to pump the same amount of blood (or more than it used to pump in 90 beats.) In the long run, this saves wear and tear on your heart.

The simplest place to take pulse is at our wrist. Rest middle and index fingers lightly on opposite wrist directly below the base of the thumb. Most people can see the fait bluish line of their or radial artery, place fingertips here. Count the beats for one minute.
What is Heart Rate?

Formula to Good Health

2009-10-06T03:47:00.000-07:00

Formula to Good Health
Most American today are overfed yet undernourished, which eventually leads to obesity and poor health.

The answer to those pervasive problem is simply to eliminate the low nutrient to calories ration foods like processed grains, sugars, fatty processed meats, soft drinks and packaged snack foods, and increase the intake of high nutrient to calorie ratio foods like vegetables, fruits, seafood and whey protein.

A diet with a high nutrient to calorie ration supplies with large quantities of beneficial vitamins, minerals and other antiaging phytonutrients, but at the same time it reduces your calorie intake.

If you want to lean, fit, vigorous, and brought and happy, you must do what you are designed to do. People usually eat until they are full or satiated.

If you consume natural high nutrient but low calorie foods like fruits and vegetables, you can eat more volume and thus will feel satisfied for a longer period after eating.

It is very difficult to get fit by eating vegetables and fruit.

If you also make sure to include healthy lean protein with each meal, you will stay full longer and be able to avoid cravings.

If you trying to lose weight and not feel deprived, subtle changes can lead to realm lasting results.

A study researchers tested whether they could fool people into thinking they were eating the same amount of calories even though they trimmed their intake by 800 calories a day.

They did this by “super-sizing” the portions of foods with high nutrient to calorie like vegetable and fruits.

At the same time they cut high calorie synthetic foods containing sugars and fats by about 25%.

As turned out, the participant did not even notice that they were consuming fewer calories because they were eating more food and staying full longer.

On the other hand, when the researchers cut calories by just decreasing portion sizes, participants complained they weren’t getting enough to eat.

In other word, you will feel less deprived and have better luck losing body fat if you increase your intake of fruits and vegetables and cut out processed high sugar and high fat foods, rather than relying on cutting portion size alone.
Formula to Good Health

To Lose Weight with Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices?

2009-09-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

To Lose Weight with Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices?
Many working men who want to lose weight fall into the trap of cutting back on alcohol and drinking soft drinks, such as cola, instead.

It’s not uncommon for such men to have up to ten – or even twenty – bottles of coke in a day.

Soft drink is often more of a problem for men wanting to lose weight than beer or alcohol.

Most people think of fruit juices as healthy and they are because they contain more vitamins than soft drink. But fruit is high in fruit sugars and when juice is separated from the fiber of the fruit, the bulk is reduced and it becomes easy to take in all the sugar and kilocalories from three to four pieces of fruit in one drink.

This might be fine for someone who’s not fat, but it’s not much use to anyone trying to solve a waist problem.

There’s no real need to drink fruit juices. The hype that says you must have orange juice breakfast is a bit of a con.

It’s better to eat a few pieces of fruit (say, three to four a day) and get your fiber intake up.

Fruit cordials are even worse because they have concentrated sugar in place of most of the nutrients of the fruit.

The obvious solution is to cut back on, or cut out, regular soft drinks, fruit juice and cordials.

The best alternative is water or mineral water. They have no calorie.

If you can’t stomach these and you really want a sweet drink, diet drinks are the next best thing.

They have no kilocalories, although some researchers have found that their artificial sweeteners might increase appetite so you end up eating more than you’ve saved by having the low energy drink.

Fat is a great insulator so an overweight man gets hot easily. When this happens, you sweat and then you need to replace the lost fluid.

If you replace fluids with alcoholic drinks, soft drink or fruit juice you’ll take in lots of energy.

If you have a high fat content in your daily food intake on top of this, you’ll get fatter, sweat more, drink more of these drinks and continue in a vicious cycle.

Alcohol is also a diuretic – it makes you lose more fluid in urine than the drink provides.

Far from rehydrating the body, alcohol causes dehydration as you’ll know from the amount of time you spend at the urinal in any pub.

If you’re going to drink alcohol, always drink water first especially if you’ve been sweating heavily.

Water is not a diuretic nor is it high in sugar.
To Lose Weight with Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices?

Fats and Diet

2009-09-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Fats and Diet
For more than two decades, fats have been in the limelight. With the health advice of today’s experts, we’re advised to moderate the total fat and lower the saturated fats, trans fat, and cholesterol in out food choices.

Certainly media continues to report new research linking various types of fats and cholesterol to health outcomes.

Culinary experts provide flavorful ways to use sensible amounts of fat in food prep.

And the food industry has launched many fat modified products; “reduced fat,” “0 grams trans fat,” and “with omega-3s.”

Not surprisingly, many consumers hear the message and consider the “fat facts” as they buy and prepare food.

While other nutrition-related concerns have emerged, attention to fat likely will be around for some time.

Evidence indicates that a diet high in saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol increases risks for unhealthy levels of blood cholesterol, and therefore cardiovascular disease.

High fat eating is likely high in saturated fat and risky for heart health.

Managing excess calories is also harder harder with high fat eating.

There may be a link to some cancers, too. As science reveals more, it’s also becoming clear that the links between the different types of fat and health are more complex than once thought.

Aging baby boomers are being forced to face the “fat facts of life.” And people of all ages recognized that cutting back to a moderate fat intake – and eating less “sat fats,” tans fat” and cholesterol and replacing some with healthy oils – will promote good health in the long run.

Many people especially Americans already have cut down on their total fat intake to moderate levels. Yet there’s still room to improve, to make healthier food and fat choices and to consume less saturated and trans fats.
Fats and Diet

General Definition of Obesity

2009-08-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

General Definition of Obesity
Obesity is generally defined as the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue to the extent that health may be impaired.

Measuring the level of adipose tissue and determining when it is likely to affect health is not an easy task.

Quantification of adipose tissue mass can be achieved by a number of laboratory methods including underwater body density measurement and body fat content estimated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometer.

In addition, the development of new techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), has provided researchers with the opportunities to describe human adiposity in more detail.

However, most of these methods require costly equipment meaning that there is limited to clinical research setting.

In large scale population surveys and clinical/public health screening, an index of body weight adjusted for stature is commonly used as a surrogate for body fat content.

These indices are defined as different combinations of weight and height, such as weight divided by height or are defined as weight expressed as a percentage of mean weight divide by height or are defined as weight expressed as a percentage of mean weight for a given height and sex.

The most widely used in Quetelet’s index, better known as body mass index (BMI), which is body weight (kg) divided by height squared (meter square). This index has been shown to correlate weakly with height and strongly with body fatness in adults.

Determining the weight status status and level of adiposity in children and adolescent is even more problematical.

This is a stage of rapid growth and development.

During growth in childhood and adolescence, not only does height increase but body composition changes as well, thus classification of obesity according to a single measure is difficult.

In addition, international or regional weight status standards for children and adolescents may be less reliable as the age of onset of puberty and its associated physical changes often varies between different countries, ethnic groups or cultures.
General Definition of Obesity